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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006636">Too Far Gone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomjenkins/pseuds/atomjenkins'>atomjenkins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Goro Akechi, also some death/murder is mentioned, and he's like "well i hate shido so i must hate ren too!!!", honey no ;w;, shuake, the only person he thinks about as much as ren is shido, this boy does not realise he's in love dang, very much the most self-indulgent thing i've ever written lol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:07:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,513</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomjenkins/pseuds/atomjenkins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why don’t we have a sleepover?” Ren asked, in such a casual tone that Akechi nearly audibly gasped.</p><p>“…I beg your pardon?”</p><p>“A sleepover!” Ren repeated, with a childish giddiness in his voice. “It’ll be fun!”</p><p>Akechi narrowed his eyes at that word – Ren had a twisted definition of what activities were ‘fun’.</p><p>---</p><p>really really self indulgent fic with sleepy shuake cuddles and stuff</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro &amp; Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro &amp; Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Quality Persona Fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Too Far Gone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had definitely let things go too far.</p><p>Goro Akechi stood just outside the door to Leblanc, his hand hovering millimetres away from the doorknob. To a casual observer he would appear as he usually did to most people – the composed and charming Detective Prince out for a late night coffee at a quiet café, away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre and more importantly, safe from the prying eyes of the paparazzi – but internally, his mind was currently working overtime, not thinking about any of those things in the slightest but instead racing to come up with a myriad of ways he could try to justify himself.</p><p>The first, and perhaps most obvious, was that it was quite reasonable to visit a coffee shop – especially for a celebrity with as busy a life and intense a workload as he had – and even more reasonable to visit a coffee shop where a friend worked. Said ‘friend’ – Ren Amamiya – could be seen just inside Leblanc, hunched over at one of the booths and writing intensely, papers and textbooks spread across the table in front of him. The other booths were empty, and Akechi breathed a sigh of relief and drew his hand away from the door, dusting himself down. Retreating unnoticed seemed to be a possibility, should he at any point come to his senses and realise what an idiot he was being.</p><p>In truth, he found it difficult to classify Ren as a friend, exactly – because as limited as Akechi’s knowledge of friendship was, he was fairly certain that friends did not normally intend to put a bullet in each other’s head. And in just a couple of weeks, that was precisely what Akechi would be doing to Ren. He reasoned that he could easily say that this visit to Leblanc was a crucial part of that plan – grow closer to Ren, get him to let his guard down, make him an easier target – but Akechi knew deep down that there was no need for that. All that remained was for the calling card to be sent – Akechi had infiltrated the Phantom Thieves to a perfectly suitable degree, he hardly needed to grow any closer to any of its members at this point. If they suspected anything amiss with him, they would have acted to stop him already. And it was too late for them to stop the whole plan anyway – it wasn’t as if Akechi was the most powerful person they were up against. No no, things would proceed just as he anticipated they would, regardless of anything he or the Phantom Thieves did – it was all so inevitable.</p><p>That left the possibility of Akechi visiting Ren to…well, just to see him. And Akechi tried to dismiss that notion as flippantly as the others – but found he couldn’t, and frowned. He’d asked Ren to indulge him in some selfish requests before – the latest of which had been their duel in Mementos – and he’d assumed that would be that. If there was no need for Akechi to grow any closer to Ren, he’d naturally assumed that Ren would have no reason to grow any closer to <em>him</em>. But Ren always managed to surprise him, to subvert his assumptions and expectations in a manner that Akechi found nothing short of infuriating, but at the same time, deeply fascinating. In fact, here he was, having been invited here by Ren, when Akechi had outright stated that he hated the boy.</p><hr/><p>A few days after their duel, Ren had invited him to the jazz club for drinks. A couple of days later, another text from Ren asking if he wanted to play darts together. Then after that, a movie night at Leblanc. All casual, carefree invitations that applied no pressure for Akechi to accept them – but accept them he had, thinking that there had to be some ulterior motive, some elaborate scheme behind them that he wanted to try to unravel; even if he had to play into them, he figured it would at least give him some insight into how Ren’s mind worked. But the Phantom Thieves leader remained as elusive and mysterious as ever, and each subsequent time they’d hung out had only left Akechi more confused, with a growing concern that Ren was playing him for a fool and he couldn’t even figure out how or why.</p><p>It had gotten so bad at one point that during their movie night a few days ago, he’d dared to outright ask Ren about it. They’d been sitting on Ren’s bed, a comfortable distance apart from each other, watching some film – Akechi couldn’t remember the details – on Ren’s crackly little TV. Ren had been casually eating popcorn and had just passed a twitchy Akechi the bowl when he’d finally exploded. “What’s the point of this? Why do you need me to be here?” He’d cried out.</p><p>Ren gave him a confused look. “Uh…not enjoying the movie?” He’d suggested.</p><p>“I’m not–!” Akechi pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing incredulously. “I can barely concentrate on the <em>movie</em>, Amamiya-kun. I’m distracted with trying to figure out <em>why </em>you invited me here. What purpose does this serve?”</p><p>Ren blinked, then smiled warmly at him. “It’s fun.”</p><p>It was Akechi’s turn to look confused. “I…what?”</p><p>“I like spending time with you. It’s fun.” Ren continued, his tone gentle. “I wanted to watch this film, and I thought it would be cool if we watched it together.” He threw a piece of popcorn in the air and caught it deftly in his mouth, before grinning at Akechi. “Because we’re friends.”</p><p>“Oh.” Part of him still screamed that obviously that had to be a lie – why would someone <em>want </em>to spend time with him? They had to <em>need </em>him for something, need him to do something for them. But Ren’s eyes sparkled with such earnest honesty – such an intense <em>kindness</em> – that Akechi found his doubts dissipating, not even bothering to consider whether he actually believed Ren or just so desperately <em>wanted </em>to. “That’s…it?” He said, flushing red.</p><p>Ren chuckled softly. “That’s it.”</p><p>Akechi narrowed his eyes. “You do remember…what I told you?”</p><p>Ren’s expression turned solemn. “I do. You hate me.” He shrugged. “But I don’t hate you.” He paused for a second, then reached out to rest his hand on Akechi’s shoulder. His hand felt warm and solid and <em>strong</em>, and Akechi found himself leaning into the touch automatically, his eyes slipping shut, before he remembered where he was. He snapped upright, shifting just slightly so Ren’s hand no longer rested against him.</p><p>“I, um…sorry I asked. Long day at work, you know…lots going on…” He felt his cheeks burning, and turned his face away from Ren both to hide his blushing and to force himself to stop babbling.</p><p>“It’s okay.” Came the response. “You’re not used to this, huh?” Akechi felt a shiver dance up his spine as Ren gently squeezed his shoulder again. Even through fabric the touch felt electrifying, and at the same time so warm and welcoming that Akechi wanted to melt against it and let that warmth encompass him fully – a feeling of safety and security fluttering in his chest that he craved so <em>desperately </em>– but he bit his lip and resisted, clearing his throat.</p><p>“No.” He said, fairly steadily, considering how loudly he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He turned back to Ren, who tilted his head slightly, his gaze scrutinizing.</p><p>“If you hate me so much, you don’t have to stay here. I’d prefer you didn’t go just yet, but if that’s what you want…”</p><p>A pause. “Let’s…finish the film.” Akechi suggested.</p><p>And so they had, in relative silence, only occasionally making a spirited comment to each other whenever a particularly ridiculous plot development occurred. Eventually, with the credits rolling and Akechi collecting his things, Ren had said; “Hey, if you want to…come round again, just ask, okay? We’ve got a lot of time to kill before the heist, it’d be cool to hang out more. I’m free next Friday, if you fancy it?”</p><p>“I’ll think about it. I am quite busy after all.” Akechi said, not facing Ren. That statement was partly true – he <em>was </em>quite busy, and he would definitely think about the invitation quite a lot; but he knew he had some space in his diary, and he was quite grateful for the excuse to fill his otherwise lonely evenings with something, even if he didn’t quite understand why that ‘something’ was happening.</p><p>Something else began to happen after that too. Ren became closer, more casual around him, especially when it came to touch. A light pat on the back after a fight in Mementos, a little ruffle of his hair in the Monabus – and sometimes just that same gentle squeeze of his shoulder after a tough battle. The touches were so tender, so open and honest, as if Ren were inviting Akechi to lean on him, to relax against him, to be vulnerable with him. Akechi resented how much of his willpower it took to resist, to not sag against his touch and let the comfort overtake him. He could hardly afford to appear weak in front of Ren, nor to have his feelings toyed with so close to the day he would execute his plan, so he stood firm and defiant in the face of these taunting touches.</p><p>But even so, Ren began to occupy more and more of his thoughts, and Akechi’s hatred for the boy only burned more intensely with each passing day. He hated his calm and collected nature, his friendly disposition and unwavering sense of justice that never faltered even in his unjust circumstances, his skill and knowledge that rivalled Akechi’s own, how he was flawless in all the ways Akechi was broken – most of all he hated how much <em>control </em>he had over Akechi, how he was the only person who had made the Detective Prince façade crumble and crack just for a moment, and how large of a presence he had in Akechi’s life even when he wasn’t there in person. The subtle touches that nearly reduced him to a sobbing mess were bad enough, but Akechi was convinced that he thought more about Ren than he did about Shido – about what Ren was doing, what he was planning, how he was feeling, whether he was thinking about Akechi too…</p><hr/><p>“Are you going to stand there all night?” A voice suddenly said, making him jump out of his skin. Leblanc’s door had been cracked open, and Ren stood directly in front of him, peering at Akechi curiously, and with a strange fondness in his eyes. “Hello? Earth to Akechi?”</p><p>“I-I apologise!” Akechi stammered, quite taken aback. He straightened his tie and fumbled for a shred of composure. “Forgive me, I was rather…lost in thought…” Internally he began to panic. He could hardly excuse himself now that Ren had seen him.</p><p>Ren cocked his head and raised his eyebrows slightly. “You’ve been standing there for a while…oh, uh, want to come in?” He opened the door fully and looked expectantly at Akechi.</p><p>His feet seemed unable to move anywhere other than forward. “Yes, thank you.” He said, stepping inside while Ren shut the door and fiddled with the shop sign just behind him. The relaxing aura and pleasant aroma of Leblanc did little to calm his thumping heart. Taking note of the papers and open textbooks on one of the tables he seized the chance for conversation to break the awkward silence between them. “Studying?”</p><p>Ren nodded as he stretched his arms above his head, cracking a couple of joints. “I find I focus better at night. It’s not anything you’d find interesting, though.”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know…” Akechi said, idly flicking through one of the textbooks. “Ah, some law questions. Is that why you called me here, to help with your studies? You’re quite the diligent student, especially studying on a Friday night.”</p><p>“Nah, I already know everything I need to.” Ren said dismissively, flicking the notepad shut and gathering the books in a pile. “That’s not what you’re here for.” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes that was deeply unsettling to Akechi.</p><p>“So then…”</p><p>“Why don’t we have a sleepover?” Ren asked, in such a casual tone that Akechi nearly audibly gasped.</p><p>“…I beg your pardon?”</p><p>“A sleepover!” Ren repeated, with a childish giddiness in his voice. “It’ll be fun!” Akechi narrowed his eyes at that word – Ren had a twisted definition of what activities were ‘fun’. “And it’s totally fine too – Sojiro doesn’t need me for anything tomorrow and Morgana is at Futaba’s.” He smiled brazenly at Akechi, who could only stare back, aghast, for a moment.</p><p>“Just because <em>you </em>are not needed for work tomorrow doesn’t mean the same applies to <em>me</em>.” He said curtly.</p><p>This didn’t seem to phase Ren at all. “Yeah, but I don’t mind if you wake up early as long as you don’t disturb me.” He shrugged.</p><p>Akechi fidgeted, feeling like a cornered animal. “You seem quite confident that I will say yes.”</p><p>Ren smiled again. “You don’t seem confident about saying no.”</p><p>Akechi bristled. “That is – I…” He trailed off, unable to stand looking at Ren’s smug grin. He stared at the floor for a moment – Ren was right, why was he having such a hard time with this? He could easily conjure up a multitude of reasons to say no – he had a particularly difficult case to deal with tomorrow, he had to wake up extremely early, he was just popping in here for a brief visit on his way somewhere else, or maybe he just didn’t <em>want</em> to…bizarrely, all of those seemed equally farfetched. Why was he debating this with himself?</p><p>“Hey,” A gentle voice said. Akechi glanced up, and saw Ren slowly approaching him. “You don’t have to, I just thought…” He paused, then his voice dropped to a low whisper, almost conspiratorial. “It’s been stressful lately, for all of us – it would be good for us to just chill out and relax for a bit. You too, if you’ll let yourself.” His hand brushed against Akechi’s arm and settled on his shoulder again, sending a strange tingling through his whole body as he fought not to slump against Ren right there.</p><p>The touch only lasted a moment before Ren took his hand away again, and Akechi found himself missing it – and the prospect of reclaiming it was all too tantalizing. He shouldn’t, he knew he shouldn’t, every nerve in his body wanted to scream at him that he shouldn’t but they were silent and subdued, sent to sleep by Ren’s tender touches. He found himself considering the inevitability of everything again – inevitably, his plan would come to fruition, regardless of his idiotic decisions here and now. His resolve was absolute. Inevitably, Ren Amamiya would be dead in a matter of days. And inevitably, Akechi would accept this invitation – because, he supposed, he was just that weak, just that selfish, just that lonely.</p><p>“No, of course.” Akechi replied in as cool a tone as he could muster. “We’re friends, aren’t we? It would be…” He struggled. “…an honour to stay the night here. With you.” He paused awkwardly, trying not to look at Ren, who had an expression of sincere – and somewhat sickening – affection. “Oh, but I…don’t have any pyjamas with me.” Was that a last feeble attempt to escape this unfortunate situation, he wondered?</p><p>With a self-satisfied expression, Ren dug his hands into his pockets and began making his way past Akechi to ascend the stairs at the back of the room. “No worries, I’ve got you covered.”</p><p>As Ren headed up, Akechi stole one last glance at the door, before following after Ren with a sigh.</p><p>He had definitely let things go too far.</p><hr/><p>“I hope you’re going to tidy those up.” Akechi mused, watching as Ren rather unceremoniously dug through a large box containing various items of clothing, wincing as each item was roughly discarded on the floor in a messy pile.</p><p>“You sound like Morgana.” Ren said, only half-humorously, as he rooted around in the box and finally pulled out a grey hoodie and a dark pair of sweatpants. They smelt a little musty, but they’d do for one night. “Here.” He tossed them to Akechi, before gesturing to the mess he’d made. “This will all magically disappear by the time you get back.”</p><p>When Akechi returned from the downstairs bathroom, now sporting the hoodie and pants and with his other clothes folded neatly over his arm, everything that Ren had spilled out all over the floor had indeed magically returned to their rightful place in the box, albeit looking a lot more haphazardly stuffed inside than they had been previously. Akechi chuckled before noticing Ren, also having changed into pyjamas – a soft-looking dark shirt and grey sweatpants – towering above him, stood on the bed with his fingertips brushing against the ceiling.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Akechi asked, placing his folded clothes on the sofa.</p><p>“Bouncing.” Ren said, and did so, though only lightly, his toes always remaining on the bed – to either prevent himself from hitting his head on the ceiling or breaking the fragile looking bedframe or both, Akechi supposed.</p><p>“How old are you again?” Akechi said, sighing.</p><p>“Old enough to not be boring.” Ren said, bobbing up and down, looking exceptionally pleased with himself.</p><p>“That…doesn’t make any sense.” Akechi said, but he found himself mirroring Ren’s wide cheeky grin. He chuckled and looked down at the sofa. “Do you not have any spare blankets or pillows?”</p><p>“Hm? What for?” Ren said, jumping down from the bed with a small thump and appearing just behind Akechi, resting his elbow on Akechi’s shoulder. This closeness, this familiarity, was still so alien to him – Akechi was used to polite handshakes and the occasional tap on the shoulder; all clinical and cold gestures he thought nothing of. The way Ren touched him was always so…different. Akechi’s world was cold and Ren was like a flame he was only too keen to get closer to.</p><p>A shudder went down Akechi’s spine and suddenly the weight of Ren’s arm resting against him was all he could focus on. “For…my bed?” He managed to say, gesturing to the bare sofa. “It was your idea, I seem to recall, to have a sleepover – now I’ll admit I’m not overly familiar with such a thing, but it is normally customary for the host to provide a bed for his guest to sleep in, yes? So the guest can sleep…over?”</p><p>“Aha.” Ren said simply, with a wink. “Right there.” He said, spinning Akechi around with a flourish and pointing to his own bed. “Ta-da.”</p><p>“Right.” Akechi said, blinking. “So you’re sleeping…where?”</p><p>Ren pointed again to his own bed, then looked back at Akechi. Akechi blinked again.</p><p>“Oh!” He exclaimed, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks immediately.</p><p>“I mean, if you’d like.” Ren said, in that gentle tone again. Akechi couldn’t help but find it endearing, and hated himself for it. “I actually do have some spare blankets – Yusuke stayed round this one time, long story – but I thought…if you want…it could be…” he paused, “…nice?”</p><p>“Descriptive.” Akechi considered, his heart pounding. He should stop and he should stop <em>now</em>, he’d already progressed far further than he should have and everything he was doing was just making things worse – he had gone past the point of digging himself a deep hole and was now very much digging his own grave. But when Ren brushed against his hand with his own, those thoughts began to swim and confuse themselves and he couldn’t help but want to lose himself completely in that feeling of security, of safety, that Ren brought him. It was selfish and it was completely moronic but it was also enticing, exciting, enthralling. And as a detective he couldn’t help but want to fully immerse himself in every detail of this new and alien experience, to study it, and if he could, understand it. Besides, Akechi considered himself too far gone in so many ways – it seemed pointless to think about turning back when he was already the wrong way down countless paths.</p><p>“Alright then, I suppose tonight’s the night for trying new things.” He said, sounding far more confident than he felt.</p><p>“Exactly.” Ren agreed, before his voice dropped into a murmur. “But hey, just let me know if you’d rather not. I’d like you to be…y’know, chilled out and stuff.”</p><p>Akechi grimaced. “What a delightfully awful way to put it. I’m having second thoughts about sharing a bed with such an idiot.” He said playfully, drifting over to the bed regardless. Ren followed along behind, before leaping into bed and scooting over to one side to make room for Akechi, who clambered in considerably less rambunctiously. There was still a good amount of space between them – Akechi suspected that was for his benefit rather than Ren’s – so he dared to move closer, pressing against Ren’s side. He shuddered and gasped involuntarily as he felt warmth begin to spread through him.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Ren said, sounding apprehensive. “We don’t have to be this close if you don’t want to. I know this bed looks crappy but it’s actually quite spacious. Or you can sleep here, and I can take the couch. I don’t mind.”</p><p>“I’m fine.” Akechi said, fighting to remain composed. “It’s…nice, if you’re alright with it too.” He saw Ren nod and felt him shift to support Akechi’s weight against him.</p><p>“Just let me know if you want me to stop doing anything. Or not do anything at all.” Ren said, his breath tickling Akechi’s ear.</p><p>Akechi shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “Don’t…take my gloves off.” He said, panic straining his voice.</p><p>Ren nodded. “I won’t.” He tucked one arm around Akechi and with the other he placed his palm against Akechi’s own. “Is this okay?”</p><p>Akechi’s gaze lingered on their hands for a while – Akechi’s gloved, Ren’s bare, which felt ironic – it seemed as though <em>he</em> were the one baring everything to Ren here; this one boy privy to all (or at least most) of his insecurities and vulnerabilities like no one else had been before; while Ren remained as inscrutable and unflappable as ever. The feeling of Ren’s hand against his own felt strange but it didn’t feel unpleasant – quite the opposite. He cautiously linked his fingers between Ren’s, until they were undeniably holding hands. Again, it wasn’t something he was used to – and he was sure it was something he should be finding abhorrent – but it wasn’t something he wanted to stop – the same could be said for the blissful feeling of relaxation beginning to blossom in his chest.</p><p>“Yes, it’s…like I said, it’s nice.” He said eventually, leaning against Ren a little more. The situation seemed to be robbing him of his coherency. “So, how does the rest of this sleepover thing go?”</p><p>“Well, we could watch a film or something, I suppose.” Ren offered, tilting his head slightly in consideration. “But I would have to get up in order to set it up.”</p><p>Akechi nestled closer to Ren, digging himself into the warmth. “Denied.” Akechi said, as he began to feel fingers running through his hair. He tensed at first but the motion was wonderfully soothing, and he found himself slouching against Ren without even meaning to, until his head was laying against Ren’s chest. It felt strange to think about how in a relatively short time, Ren would be dead, and yet here he was, with his breathing and heartbeat so close to Akechi’s ear it felt like he was surrounded on all sides by reminders of how overwhelmingly <em>alive</em> Ren was.</p><p>Akechi found himself frowning as he thought about that, until Ren’s fingers brushed against the back of his neck, then settled there to rub just above his shoulders. He didn’t even bother to try to suppress the contented sound he made as he sagged against Ren bonelessly, the tension bleeding out of him as Ren began tracing the tips of his fingers lightly against his back. Even through the fabric of his shirt it felt so intensely intimate in a way that Akechi wasn’t used to, like Ren was carefully peeling away his princely veneer and uncovering the results of all his years of deprivation and loneliness that he’d long buried away with just a simple motion, like a scalpel through skin. Perhaps if he felt like stringing together more competent thoughts he would be concerned about how much of himself he was showing Ren – how he was exposing the vulnerability beneath his carefully constructed mask; the rotten foundation on which he’d built his charming façade – but at the moment it seemed the furthest thing from his mind; the turbulence of his anxieties falling away so that his mind felt as relaxed as his body.</p><p>“Feeling okay?” He heard Ren say. Akechi just about managed a sleepy nod, his eyes slipping shut, not wanting to speak for fear of what he might sound like and not wanting the exertion of talking to snap him out of this hazy state of peaceful contentment. He nuzzled closer to Ren and felt a rumble of soft laughter in response. “Seems like a yes.” The delicate touches against his back – sending a pleasant tingling sensation rippling all throughout his body – felt so tender and caring that Akechi could feel himself beginning to drift closer to sleep, his body becoming heavier with each passing moment. He became vaguely aware of a blanket being tucked around him, and he reached out clumsily to bring Ren’s hand back up to stroke through his hair again. Part of him felt like a petulant child but the way Ren gently caressed through his hair, his fingertips occasionally brushing against his scalp or ear – was enough to silence his doubts about the situation he’d found himself in. Perhaps tomorrow he would remember this and regret it – perhaps he would regret a lot of things – but for now, he felt an odd sense of calm wash over him; the chaotic storm of his heart, mind and soul placated by the soothing balm of Ren’s presence.</p><p>“Alright then, so no film.” Ren continued, his voice growing more distant as Akechi teetered closer to the edge of consciousness. “Well, we could talk a bit. But you seem like you’re a little bit beyond that right now.”</p><p>“Mmm.” Akechi hummed in agreement. “M’not sure…provide…intelligent…con…conver…sation…” He just about managed to slur out, and felt Ren rumble with laughter again. The last thing he felt was Ren begin rubbing small circles on the back of Akechi’s hand, still clasped in his own, before Akechi let the warm sensation brewing in his body overwhelm him as he drifted off to sleep.</p>
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